The science fiction series Star Trek premiered on NBC on September 8, 1966. Over the course of the next fifty years, what began as just another television show evolved and endured to become one of the most iconic franchises in history. It’s basic narrative of a Utopian future where the human race has resolved its internal conflicts and moved beyond planet Earth has resonated with millions of viewers around the world, while the show’s fictional technological advancements have inspired an untold number of scientists, engineers, astronomers, and medical professionals to enter their chosen fields.
In celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the original series, the ToonSeum – a non-profit museum of the cartoon and comic arts in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – launched its To Boldly Go: The Graphic Art of Star Trek exhibit on October 28, 2016, remaining on display through January 29, 2017. Featuring original artwork from the full gambit of Star Trek comic books published by DC, Marvel, and IDW that stretches back to the 1960s, To Boldly Go offered a unique and fitting tribute to fifty years of Star Trek.
It was only thirteen months after the premier of The Original Series that the first Star Trek comic book was released, and with the exception of a brief five year period during the early part of the twenty-first century, illustrated narratives have been nonstop ever since. A variety of publishers have produced Star Trek comics, beginning with Gold Key in 1967 and then followed by Marvel and DC during the 1980s and 90s, with both U.S. and British comic strips and Peter Pan Book and Records briefly joining the fray as well.
Since 2005, IDW has been the main publisher of Star Trek comics and has extended the narrative to places where no company has gone before. While Marvel released two brief Star Trek/X-Men miniseries, IDW has taken the crossover miniseries to new heights, with various Star Trek incarnations interacting with Doctor Who, Charles Heston’s character from The Planet of the Apes, Green Lantern, and the Legion of Superheroes.
IDW also published science fiction author Harlan Ellison’s original script for the award-winning 1967 episode “The City on the Edge of Forever,” has featured the cast of both The Original Series and the recent film updates of J.J. Abrams, enlisted legendary comic artist John Byrne to construct various limited series revolving around Romulans and Gary Seven from the 1968 episode “Assignment: Earth,” and likewise spotlighted such alien races as the Borg and Klingons. Original comic art from each of those endeavors could be seen on the walls of the ToonSeum during the To Boldly Go exhibit.
The ToonSeum went beyond the comics, however, to likewise highlight the various connections between the Star Trek franchise and Pittsburgh, which – like the series itself – go back decades. Leonard Nimoy, who portrayed Mr. Spock on the original series, made his Shakespearean debut at the Pittsburgh Public Theater in 1975, for instance, while fellow cast members William Shatner, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, and George Takei attended a Star Trektacular convention at the William Penn Hotel that same year.
Star Trek: The Animated Series, meanwhile, was produced by Filmation, whose co-founder Lou Scheimer was born and raised in the Steel City. Scheimer also received co-producer credits on The Animated Series, which ran from September 8, 1973, until October 12, 1974, on NBC. One of the ToonSeum’s former art galleries was named the Scheimer Gallery in his honor.
Countless other actors, writers, and directors from the Pittsburgh region have been involved with the Star Trek franchise, including F. Murray Abraham, Ted Cassidy, Marc Daniels, Frank Gorshin, and NASA astronaut Mike Fincke. Then there’s Zachary Quinto, the Mr. Spock in J.J. Abrams big-screen reboot, a Green Tree native who attended Central Catholic High School in Oakland as well as Carnegie Mellon University before heading to Los Angeles and the planet Vulcan.
The summer of 1976 witnessed the premier of Off the Beaten Trek, a 72-page zine published in Pittsburgh under the guidance of local Star Trek fan Trinette Kern. The first issue consisted of four stories, four poems, numerous drawings and sketches, previews of future issues, and ads for other fanzines. Two additional volumes of Off the Beaten Trek were released before the zine ceased production.
In addition to Off the Beaten Trek, Trinette Kern contributed to other fan-produced zines and even wrote and self-published a short Star Trek fanfiction novel entitled The Climb. Another Steel City-based Star Trek fan, John DuMaurier, likewise contributed his own take on the Star Trek Universe with the 1978 self-published novella Invasion of the Klingon Empire.
To Boldly Go: The Graphic Art of Star Trek highlighted many of the drawings and sketches contained within Off the Beaten Trek as well as pages from a fan-produced commemorative booklet for the aforementioned 1975 Star Trektacular convention. Fan have been an important part of the Star Trek franchise from the very beginning, even bringing the original series back from the brink of cancellation after its second season with a “Save Star Trek” letter writing campaign, and any Star Trek exhibit would be amiss to not pay tribute to their efforts.
Star Trek premiered on NBC the evening of September 8, 1966, and for over fifty years has entertained generations, inspired scientists and engineers both young and old alike, and left an indelible mark on popular culture across the nation and around the world. In addition to film and television, stories of the USS Enterprise have been told in countless comic books, graphic novels, and newspaper strips, while the history of Star Trek extends all the way to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – and Beyond.
Anthony Letizia
(Anthony Letizia served as curator of To Boldly Go: The Graphic Art of Star Trek.)